I don’t know why but this Darija word ‘bgha’ really annoys me. Well I do know why it’s annoying but I have no idea why it annoys me. This word bgha has two meanings. When I say two meanings I don’t mean two meaning that are similar like synonyms.
The word can mean to want or to like. Fortunately, I found the word will be used to mean to want when it used in the past tense and will be used in the present tense to say to like. For example, if I wanted to say I want tea I would say “bghit atay”. However, if I wanted to say I like tea the sentence would be “nbghi atay”.
As I am writing this post I cannot think of an English word like bgha that works the same way. Maybe it’s just one of those things where you have spoken a language long enough you just automatically understand the differences without noticing them. Normally I like to write about topics instead of specific words but because one of the meanings of the word bgha means to want I thought that it needed a bit of attention, especially when the changing the tense changes the meaning.
I wonder if there are any other words that have two different meanings. As I go through my journey I will be sure to let you know.
Word list
d9i9a | minute |
d9ay9 | minutes |
msta3d | ready |
Verb list
seer | Go (command) |
wsl | arrive |
w9f | stop |
ghadi | Will and (used to denote future tense) |
wajd | ready |
mashi | going |
jeeb | bring |
Phrase list
Wash ymklk | Could you |
Wash khassk | Should you |
Wash kayn | Is there |
ma3rft | I don’t know |
ila kan 3ndk | If you have |
Ay klma | Any word |
9oli | Tell me |
Li baghi | That’s what you want |
Ma bghitsh | I don’t want |